Tether-ball.



No. 060,707. Patented out. 30, |900.

4 L. BlssELL.

TETHER BALL.

:Application led Feb, 5, 1900.) (No Model.)

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUISE BISSELL, OF ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Tl-:THER-BALL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 660,787, dated October 30, 1900. Application led Febrnaryb, 1900. Serial No. 3,980. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUISE BissELL, ofArlington, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tether-Ball, of which the following` is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of the ball employed in the game known as tether-ball. lts object is to prevent injury to the racket or other implement with which the ball is struck.

The invention consists in the improvements which I shall now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a side elevation of a tether-ball embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 represents an enlarged side elevation of the upper part of the cover and ring with parts broken away.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in both the gures. l

The ball commonly employed in apparatus Y of this kind is constructed with a resilient' body or center, such as an ordinary tennis or rubber ball, surrounded by a sheath, bag, or covering of Woven, netted, crocheted, or knitted material, with a ring at the top, to which the cord suspending the ball is attachedsaid ring being commonly made of metal.l The tendency of a metal or other hard ring is to injure the racket or other instrument with which the ball is struck. To overcome this objectionable feature in a tether-ball I propose' to attach to the cover a soft ring, which will; have no tendency to injure the instrument which strikes the ball.

In the drawings, 1 designates a tether-ball composed, as herein shown, of a rubber ball or other resilient body 2, a cover or holder 3 surrounding the ball 2 and made of fibrous material, such as cord or thread, crocheted, woven, knitted, or netted in any suitable pat- Ivtern, and a soft ring or loop 4, the surface of which is formed by a continuation of the thread or threads making up the cover 3. The body of the ring 4 may be made of thread or cord, Wound concentrically to form an annular core 5. The ring is thus made of suflicient stiffness to retain its shape and is at the saine time soft-surfacedand flexible or pliable, so as to yield to the blows of the racket when struck instead of oering a ha'rd surface orobstruotion tending to abrade or break the strings of the racket or injure the hoop thereof. The ring is at the same time firmly attached to the cover 3, and the two may be continuously form ed-by any well-known crochetV ing, weaving, knitting, or netting process.

I claim- I l. A tether-ballcomprising a resilient ball, a cover of fibrous material inclosing the same, and a ring or loop attached to said cover and having a surface composed of a continuation of the threads of the cover.

2. A tether-ball comprising a resilient ball, a cover of brous material inclosing the same, `and a iieXible ring'or loop attached to said cover and having a surface composed of a continuation of the threads of the cover.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LOUISE BISSELL.

Witnesses:

HORACE BROWN, R. M. PIERsoN. 

